Quick Guides — Visual Arts

Published 5:09 pm, Tuesday, November 16, 2010

You don't have to look far to find art in San Antonio.

The McNay Art Museum , the state's first private modern art museum, is a jewel, located in the much-enlarged Spanish Mediterranean-style mansion of founder Marion Koogler McNay. Currently, the museum has a landmark exhibit, "Mexico and Modern Printmaking: A Revolution in the Graphic Arts, 1920-1950," which runs through Jan. 6.

But the museum will be closing from Jan. 7 through early June 2008 in preparation for the grand opening of a new $40 million wing designed by French architect Jean-Paul Viguier. The addition will effectively double the exhibit space at the McNay, making it possible for the museum to present more and much larger touring exhibits.

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With a permanent collection including works by Monet, Gauguin, Mary Cassatt, Picasso and Georgia O'Keeffe, the McNay emphasizes French and American art of the late 19th-century and early 20th-century as well as contemporary art and theater design in the Robert L.B. Tobin Theater Collection.

The San Antonio Museum of Art is taking a better look at contemporary art with new curator David Rubin. He has completely re-installed the contemporary collection and is presenting cutting-edge exhibits. "Tigers of Wrath: Watercolors by Walton Ford" is on view through Jan. 6.

Housed in a turn-of-the-20th-century Lone Star brewery, the Museum of Art features the state's largest Latin American Art Wing, an Asian Art Wing and collections of early American art and Texas art. Currently, the museum is working toward re-opening its outstanding collection of Greek and Roman antiquities in the spring.

Artpace, housed in a former Hudson auto dealership, has become one of the country's premier artists residency programs. Three times a year, international, national and regional artists are invited to San Antonio to create new work. Attracting some of the best curators and artists in the world, Artpace has put San Antonio on the international art map.

Nearby is the Southwest School of Art & Craft, which often presents some of the best contemporary exhibits in the city in the Russell Hill Rogers Galleries in the Navarro Campus building. Housed in an old convent, the Southwest School has programs in all sorts of art and craft, including ceramics, photography, papermaking and textile art.

The Museo Alameda in Market Square is the city's newest museum, focusing on the Latino experience in America. On the West Side is one of the oldest Latino art centers in the city, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. In HemisFair Park is the Instituto de México, which is operated by the government of Mexico as a showcase for modern and contemporary Mexican artists, as well as music, dance, films and other events from south of the border.

The Witte Museum, the city's first public museum, primarily focuses on South Texas history and the natural sciences. But it also has the best local collection of early Texas art. Early Texas photography is currently showcased in "Lens on South Texas" on view through the summer of 2008.

The Blue Star Contemporary Art Center, now entering its third decade, has been the catalyst for a burgeoning grass-roots contemporary art scene. Located in an old warehouse on the San Antonio River, the Blue Star presents a steady stream of up-to-the-minute exhibits, often featuring Texas artists.

Several galleries, including a number of artist-run spaces, are located in the Blue Star warehouse complex, such as Joan Grona, REM, UTSA Satellite Space, Three Walls, Cactus Bra, StoneMetal Press, Stella Haus Art Space and San Angel Folk Art.

The nearby King William and Southtown neighborhoods feature Sala Diaz, Unit B, Robot Art Gallery, El Sol Studios and the Robert Hughes Gallery. Thousands of people attend the monthly First Friday in Southtown gallery stroll.

The San Antonio Art League Museum, which recently added a sculpture garden, is located in an old carriage house in the King William district.

The SoFlo arts district, located at the intersection of South Flores Street and Lonestar, encompasses more than 80,000-square-feet of artists' studios and galleries located in a rambling collection of old warehouses, including One9Zero6, FL!GHT, Salon Mijangos, Gallista and TPS.

Another cluster of galleries can be found in Olmos Park, notably Ortiz Contemporary, Parchman-Stremmel and Hunt Galleries. Along Fredericksburg Road in the Deco District, you'll find a couple of non-profit spaces, Centro Cultural Aztlan and Bihl Haus.

AnArte Gallery, specializing in abstract art, is in Alamo Heights. The city's newest and biggest gallery, Gallery Nord, is located in Castle Hills. Lawrence Markey, which re-located from New York City to San Antonio, is downtown.